


Empty Swimming Pools

by ebh_0214, LittleEmoWriter



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Swimming, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), I promise, Keith is a bit of a jerk, Kinda?, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nerds that swim, Slow Burn, he gets better tho, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-03-01 12:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13294893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebh_0214/pseuds/ebh_0214, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleEmoWriter/pseuds/LittleEmoWriter
Summary: Keith is the star swimmer on the Garrison University swim team with big dreams. Lance is the new kid who just transferred from a community college and made it onto the swim team. Feeling threatened by Lance, competition (perhaps friendly?) arises between them, maybe leading to something more?





	1. August

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to our ultimate shitpile of dumb sports/college au head cannons. This literally came to us in a dream, please join us as we wander around in this dream like state of mind :^) p.s. title comes from "Swimming Pools" by Troye Sivan which is a total bop B-)

The hot August sun was shining brightly down on Keith’s neck as he made his daily trek across campus to the gym for swim team practice. His backpack was slung over his shoulder while his earbuds were blasting his workout playlist in his ears. The main quad of Garrison University was bustling with new freshmen excited to explore, but Keith’s eyes were drawn downwards on the sidewalk, lost in thought. Damn Keith, why can’t you be faster, five seconds! Just five seconds faster and you could have beaten your record from last summer. Mentally facepalming himself, he almost tripped over a crack on the sidewalk. Keith glanced around to make sure no one else saw.

Eyes drawn back down he continued to walk. Wow. Good for you Keith, you can’t even WALK, how are you supposed to SWIM. Not even five minutes after his stumble a shoulder rammed into Keith’s and knocked him down.

“Hey! Watch it! You’re lucky I didn’t break my arm or something,” said Keith as he pushed himself back up.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry, I just… got lost in your eyes and forgot to watch where I was going. I’m Lance by the way.” Lance gave Keith a wink and stuck out his hand to help him up. 

“Are you serious right now? Did you just try a pick up line on me? After you knocked me down?”

“What can I say? I can charm anyone off their feet, quite literally it seems,” smirked Lance. “Okay, but in all seriousness, are you alright? I was looking at my phone and didn’t see you there.”

Keith brushed some dirt off his shirt, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just hope you didn’t make me late to practice.” He pulled out his phone to check the time, “Damn, I’m late. Well, I need to go if I don’t want to be chewed out by my captain, see you around, Lance.” 

Keith broke out into a jog with Lance shouting behind him, “Hey! I didn’t catch your name!” Keith was already too far ahead and didn’t hear Lance.

\---

“Keith! There you are. What have we discussed about being here on time for practice?” Shiro, team captain of the swim team, caught Keith as he was heading to the locker room slightly out of breath.

“Sorry, Shiro. I know, I know. I have to be here on time, but some idiot ran into me, so I had run here and I’m late. He even had the nerve to hit on me after he knocked me down, can you believe that?” Keith huffed as he recounted the events to Shiro.

Shiro shook his head and nudged Keith towards the locker room. “Alright, hurry up and get changed and rinsed. The rest of the team is alright out there stretching.”

“Wow, he looked rough,” said Allura, popping up besides Shiro. “Looks like he hasn’t slept in a few days.”

“I know Allura. It won’t do him any good if he’s always pushing himself and not resting. Talk to him for me? I don’t want to be a broken record and tell him too many times. You’re the team manager, help me out here!” Shiro sent Allura a sheepish smile, silently pleading for her to agree. 

Allura could only glare at Shiro in return. Everyone knew how difficult it was to talk to Keith when he was in one of his “don’t talk to me, I’m swimming” moods. These moods consisted of him often forgetting to eat, sleep, and occasionally basic hygiene because he’s so focused on improving his time or form. Considered to be Garrison University’s finest swimmer, Keith had his eye set on joining the nation’s Olympic team, so these moods occur too often for comfort. This was Keith’s dream ever since he could waddle into a pool and saw the wide smiles of the swimmers holding up their medals on the television screens as a kid. “He’s supposed to take my place as team captain, but how can he do that if he can barely take care of himself? I know he isn’t exactly jumping to accept the position, but I know he could do great things for this team,” Shiro sighed.

Allura sent Shiro a knowing look. “All he needs is a wake-up call, a push in the right direction to learn to care for the team beyond his own records and dreams.” 

Shiro let out a short laugh in response. “I can only hope he’ll get there before we graduate.”

“I know he can. Alright, I’ll talk to him. But only because I’m worried about him too. Not because you’re too much of a wimp to approach him yourself, our dear old team captain,” Allura said teasingly as she walked back towards the pool. Shiro could only follow her with a deep sigh. 

\---

Practice was a success. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted and ready to head home, eat and rest. Everyone, but Keith. He stood back lingering and staring at the pool, while the rest of the team gathered around the bench. “Keith!” shouted Hunk, “Come here! Pidge has some numbers for you from today.” Keith was pulled out of his daze and headed towards Hunk and Pidge. Pidge was the team’s official-unofficial stat person. As Keith and Hunk’s close friend, she was constantly at practice half watching and half messing around on her laptop, so she was recruited after Shiro thought her constant presence could be put to good use.

“Hey, Pidge. How was I today?” asked Keith, attempting to dry his hair with a towel.

“Not bad, Keith! Your time for your freestyle was faster by 1 second today, but your breaststroke was slower by approximately 2 seconds. I think you had a slight delay from when you dove off the block though, so that may have affected my calculations. Besides that everything else looked pretty much the same.”

Keith could only frown at what he heard. No improvement. Pidge and Hunk saw Keith’s face and knew he was about to beat himself up. “Hey Keith! Did you hear? Shiro said someone new is joining the team! He’s apparently super fast on the freestyle and butterfly. But, of course, he hasn’t seen you in action yet. He’ll have to work twice as hard if he wants to keep up with you on this team,” beamed Pidge.

“What? New member? Where is he from? Why haven’t I heard about this?” questioned Keith.

“Well, Shiro announced it at the beginning of practice, but you might have missed it since you were late. No idea where he’s from, we haven’t met him yet. He might be coming by soon though, Shiro mentioned he might stop by today after practice to meet the team. He’s supposed to start next week,” said Hunk.

“Can’t believe I missed that announcement, just because of that stupid guy. Well, I hope this new guy is ready to practice, I’m not letting some newbie drag us down, I want to go to Nationals this year.”

“What’s his name? Want me to search the web and find some embarrassing pictures of him to laugh about?” acquired Pidge.

Keith struggled to recall the person’s name, “I think he said his name was-”

“Lance! So happy you could make it, let’s introduce you to the rest of the team. You’ve met me, Coran, and our team captain, Shiro,” said the head coach. 

As Coran went around introducing Lance to the rest of the team, Keith could only stare with wide eyes. Eventually, Coran stood in front of him with Lance by his side. “Lance, this is Keith, one of our fastest swimmers. Keith, this is Lance.”

“Oh. We’ve met. This is the idiot that knocked me over and made me late to practice.”

Lance grinned at Keith. “Sorry about that again, but hey! We get to swim together now, and I can keep drowning in your eyes.” 

Keith stared back at Lance emotionless before brushing past him towards the locker room. “Don’t worry about him, he’s like that to everyone. He’ll warm up to you eventually. Welcome to the team, Lance. I expect you to be here on time for practice,” said Shiro, giving Lance a pat on the back. Lance nodded mindlessly while staring towards the locker room.


	2. September

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where competition ensues >:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delayed update... college... hard..

The sounds of notebooks closing and backpacks being zipped up filled the room of Keith’s physics lecture, signalling the end of class. The professor sighed, “Well, I guess that’s all for today. Remember your test is in exactly two weeks! That should give you ample time to prepare.” Keith hurriedly packed up his belongings and rushed out of the lecture hall in order to get an extra half hour to himself in the pool before practice. He made it all the way out of the building before Pidge caught up to him.

“Keith! Come on! We talked about this! We agreed to walk to practice together after class.” She was still panting from her run to catch up as she shot Keith a glare. 

“Sorry Pidge, I just figured I could fit in some extra practice time if I hurried,” Keith said. He caught her smirk out of the corner of his eye. “Oh no, what are you planning?”

Pidge’s smirk only grew knowingly before she said, “I know how you can earn my forgiveness for abandoning me back there--come to my study group this Friday! Hunk and I want to get a head start for our next physics exam. Grace us with your genius, all mighty physics god!” She laughed to herself before stopping to turn to Keith. “So what do you say?”

“Fine,” he grunts, despite his crankiness, Keith actually enjoys spending time with the pair. “Now let’s hurry and get to the pool before someone else gets my favorite lane.”

\---

“Alright team, come on, come on. Get close, I’ve got some announcements to make before we start. So as we all know we have a meet next month against Galra State. Don’t let our rivalry cloud your minds right now, alright? Focus on your own performance and the results will show. Now, on that note, let’s welcome Lance to his first official practice,” Shiro gestured to Lance, who was standing beside him with a wide grin. “I’ve seen Lance swim and we are lucky to have him on our team. Might be the swimmer to help take us to Nationals finally.” 

Keith was fuming when he heard that. He had no idea why Shiro thought Lance would be able to take the team to Nationals, if they already have him. He simply needed some more time to train and improve, then he’d take them to Nationals. Not Lance. “Now, let’s stretch and swim.” With those words from Shiro, Keith nudged pass the team and headed for the pool.

“Hey Keith! Wanna help this newbie out with some stretches? Gonna keep this body flexible, if you know what I mean,” said Lance with a sly grin and a wink.

Keith only glared in return and shook his head. “No thanks. I already stretched earlier, I’m just going to hop in the pool now.”

“Well, you know where to find me if you need help loosen up. You look like you might need it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m don’t think I’ll be listening to a newbie on what I should and shouldn’t do.” Keith walked off to the edge of the pool and proceeded to put on his swimming cap before diving in for some warm up laps.

Lance confusingly looked on, unsure what he did wrong. “Don’t take it personally. He’s a lone wolf who is still adjusting to the fact that he’s a part of a team.” Lance turned to Pidge, who appeared next to him and was also watching Keith.

“Well, I guess I’ll find someone else to help me stretch. Want to help me out Pidge?”

Pidge held up her hands and slowly backed away while shaking her head and nervously laughed, “Yeah, I don’t really stretch… or swim… or run… I just sit on that bench right there and keep time and stats on you guys. You should ask Hunk, he’s always willing to help.” With that said, Pidge speed walked to her laptop and bench to avoid being asked again to partake in physical activity and buried herself in her numbers. 

With a shrug, Lance turned to Hunk and shouted, “Hey Hunk! Help a bro out and let’s stretch so we’re ready to glide through that pool.”

\---

Practice went off without a hitch. Besides the frequent competition between Keith and Lance that occurred throughout practice. They were constantly trying to outswim each other. Shiro eventually had to intervene, “Guys! I get it, some friendly competition is nice and keeps you motivated. But, at this rate one of you guys will get hurt. We don’t need that to happen, especially with a meet against Galra next month.” Afterwards, Keith and Lance swam on opposite ends of the pool. 

At the end of practice, Pidge was once again providing the team with the numbers from the day. “Let’s see. Keith! Wow, your 200 meters freestyle time today was impressive! 1 minute and 40 seconds! That’s your fastest time so far. Hunk, your backstroke was 2 seconds faster today.” Hunk cheered and pumped his fists up into the air. “Lance, dude! Your freestyle time is the fastest today! 1 minute and 37 seconds, beating Keith by 3 seconds.”

“Yes! That’s a new personal best for me!” Lance was jumping around and celebrating. He stopped and looked at Keith, who was clearly not impressed, and said, “Guess you should have stretched with me, huh? Might have been able to give you that extra flexible edge to speed up. Well, I’ve got to head out now, I’ll see you, Hunk, and Pidge this weekend for the study group. Do some puzzles or something, Keith, keep that brain of yours active and show me what you’re made of then.” Lance smirked and winked at Keith before heading to the locker room.

Keith was confused about what study group Lance was talking about. “Pidge? What’s he talking about? Is he going to be at our physics study group?”

Pidge uncomfortably rubbed the back of her head, “Yeah? I might have invited him to join us? He has the same professor as us and he mentioned how he needs some help with some of the concepts for the next exam, so I figured he could join us and we’ll help each other out.”

“Fine. But he better not make us have to explain everything to him and have some contributions to the group. I won’t have him waste my weekend having to explain basics to him.”

“Don’t worry, Keith. I’m sure if he doesn’t know something, you can explain it to him and school him with all your physics knowledge.”

“Okay, okay. I suppose it’ll be alright for him to show up and study with us this weekend. But you’re paying for lunch today for springing this on me,” said Keith as he turned and walked to the locker room.

Pidge smiled, “Deal! I’ll meet you outside and we’ll walk to the cafe together. Oh! We also need to finish our discussion on the new research on gravitational waves.” 

\---

“Okay, so according to the syllabus our first exam will cover the basics like velocity, acceleration, kinematics, normal force and Newton’s three laws,” Keith rattled off from the syllabus pulled up on his laptop. He was seated farthest from the door of their tiny study room in the library with Pidge and Hunk to his right. Across the round table was an empty seat for Lance, who, unsurprisingly, hadn’t showed up yet. Pidge followed Keith’s eyes to the empty seat and raised her eyebrows in a questioning glance.

“Maybe someone should text Lance and see if he’s still coming?” Pidge asked the other two. At that moment, Lance burst into the study room out of breath from seemingly running across campus if his wind mussed hair was any clue. 

"Oh man, I am so sorry," Lance panted, "I was at my organic chemistry professor’s office hours and I just lost track of time. We were talking about my project on enantiomers and the polar opposite effects mirror image chemicals can have from one another." Keith noticed that Lance's deep blue eyes lit up as he was talking about his project and was confused, he always thought Lance was a total ditz.

Keith interjected, "Wait, what's your major?" 

"Surprised I actually have some brains, Keith?" Lance punctuated his sentence with a raised brow. "What? Did you think I was a communications or religion major? I’m actually majoring in biochemistry, since you’re so curious." Keith sputtered across the table, clearly embarrassed by Lance calling him out. Lance laughed before continuing, "I know you and other astrophysics majors like to think you guys the best of the best, but we'll see about that." Lance smirked before pulling out his laptop. Pidge snickered to herself while Hunk reached out to Lance for a high five. Keith rolled his eyes in response and threw a pencil in Hunk and Pidge's general direction.

"Let's just get to work, we have a lot to cover," Keith said. His ego was bruised, but for some reason he couldn't get the image of the sparkle in Lance’s eyes as he passionately talked about his project out of his head.

\---

With his music set to his workout playlist, Keith was set for the gym. He had done some light weights and stretching as part of his warm up before deciding he wanted to run on the treadmill. Keith was lost in thought as he pictured himself swimming and practicing the different strokes when he noticed a flash of familiar disheveled brown hair out of the corner of his eye. Lance’s smiling face came into view as he turned to confirm who it was. Eyes narrowing Keith asked, “Are you following me now? What are you doing here? Haven’t I seen enough of you already after yesterday’s study session?”

“What? I’m a student here too you know. But I guess you already do, since we established our majors yesterday,” replied Lance with a cheeky grin. “Besides, this gym is open to the public too. Must have been fate for the both of us to end up on treadmills next to each other.”

Keith rolled his eyes and tried to suppress a smile at another attempt of Lance’s flirting. “Whatever, just don’t bother me. Unlike you, I’m actually here to work out. You’re probably just here to try to hit on all the pretty people.”

“You’re right and I am running next to the prettiest person here already,” said Lance while looking at his phone to make a song selection. Keith almost fell when he heard what Lance said. While he had dealt with Lance’s persistent flirting since they first met, Lance had never seemed serious about what he’s said. The timidness in Lance’s tone made Keith think he actually meant what he said for once. Without making a biting remark in return, Keith returned his focus on imagining his swim techniques. 

Not even 30 minutes had passed when Lance whistled, “Wow Keith, I’m surprised. 5 miles per hour? Would have thought you were fast than that.” 

“What? Keep your eyes on your own treadmill, Lance,” said Keith. A few seconds later, Keith peeked a glance onto Lance’s treadmill and saw his was set to 5.5 miles per hour. Not willing to be bested, especially by Lance, Keith tried to secretly set his speed to 6 miles per hour. 

Keith was grinning to himself and giving himself a mental pat on the back for beating Lance at their unspoken competition. Keith was almost done with completing his imaginary 400m freestyle race in his head when he noticed Lance had upped his speed to 6.5 miles per hour. In turn, Keith changed his own speed to 7 miles per hour. Lance immediately changed his speed to 8.5. Keith looked up at Lance as soon as he saw Lance change the speed and Lance only smile in return. Not wanting to be a slower runner, Keith only continued to increase his speed so it was faster than Lance’s. Eventually when the two of them were panting and had to stop from exhaustion, they had cranked their speeds up to 10 miles per hour, much faster than either of them could run at. 

Both were standing and chugging some water while staring at each other. Keith finally spoke, “Well, that was a nice workout. See you at practice.” He picked up his bag was started to walk away.

Lance laughed, “Oh man, I sure hope you don’t swim like that at the swim meet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, you know. Try to swim faster than the other swimmers, then not actually being able to and losing. Like what just happened today. You kept trying to run faster than me, then got tired and couldn’t keep up.”

Keith was furious, “Oh yeah? Like you can talk! You were doing the exact same thing and you know it. You kept trying to speed up too. So, I sure hope you can swim as well as you can talk.” Keith turned and resumed his walk to exit the gym and trying to contain his temper. 

Proceeding to push Keith to the limit, Lance continued to speak, “Oh, don’t worry. I know I can swim, do you though? Guess we’ll both see at next month’s swim meet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to us on tumblr!  
> [LittleEmoWriter](https://rainbowgoatheartattack.tumblr.com/)  
> [ebh_0214](https://junebugp.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to us on tumblr!! we love to make friends!!  
> [LittleEmoWriter](https://rainbowgoatheartattack.tumblr.com)  
> [ebh_0214](https://earthbenderhunk.tumblr.com)


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